Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,419
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-8 NASB’95)
The subject matter is our faith in Jesus Christ and what that should look like, in practice, according to the Scriptures, and according to the examples and the teachings of Jesus Christ and of the Lord’s New Testament apostles. And this has to do with the righteousness of God, godliness, and becoming partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. In other words, it has to do with us, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, dying to sin and obeying our Lord, by his grace, in his power.
Now, as part of our faith in action, in practice, by the grace of God, we should be putting on the character of our Lord in how we think, speak, and behave. As we grow to maturity in our walks of faith in the Lord Jesus, we should be becoming more and more like him in thought, word, and deed. And this is not of our own flesh, because the flesh cannot produce the character of God in us. This is of the Spirit of God as daily we yield control of our lives over to the Lord and we choose to walk in his ways and in his truth.
So, what are some of these character traits which should now be evident in our lives? The first one listed is moral excellence. And that is HUGE! For this is not something that is being taught much or stressed much in modern day “Christianity.” In fact, what I am seeing is the opposite of that. I am seeing all kinds of work-arounds in order to avoid the Scriptures that teach that moral impurity, sexual immorality, the lusts of the flesh, and adultery must be put out of our lives, and they should have no part in the Christian life.
Knowledge is important, for without knowledge we lack understanding, but the knowledge must come from the Lord and from His Word, and not from the flesh of humans nor from humanistic philosophy. So make certain that the knowledge that you are gaining is godly in nature, that it is taken from the Scriptures (taught in their appropriate context), and that it agrees with the divine character of God and with his expressed will and purpose for our lives, as his followers. For there is a lot of knowledge out there that’s bad.
Now each of these qualities builds one upon the other. And all of these qualities must be grounded in the truth of God’s Word. For, if we are lacking in moral excellence, we will also be lacking in self-control, but along with moral excellence will come self-control. And we learn self-control through the knowledge of God’s word and via the Spirit living within us, by faith in Christ. And we learn self-control when we yield control of our lives over to the Lord and we choose to do his will and to not give into our flesh, by the Spirit.
And perseverance is critical to our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and to our salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. For the Scriptures teach that, by faith, we die with Christ to sin, and we walk in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit. But if sin is what we practice, and not obedience, and not righteous and godly living, then we won’t inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. We must obey our Lord and die to our sins, in practice, from now to eternity, by God’s grace.
And godliness is following the example of Jesus Christ and how he lived, and it is walking by the Spirit, and not by the flesh, in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. And to be holy is to be separate (different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, if we are willing and obedient, and if we will submit to his work of grace in our lives, and if we cooperate with him as clay in the hands of the Potter being shaped and molded into the image of Jesus Christ.
And kindness never lies to people. You may call it kindness, but it is not kind to tell people lies, even if those lies make them feel good. If we are truly kind, as Jesus was kind, we will speak the truth in love to people, for their good, for their welfare, for what is truly best for them, especially in light of eternity. So we will not dilute and alter the gospel message to make it more acceptable to human flesh, and we will not shy away from sharing the truth of the gospel out of concern of hurting other people’s feelings.
For love, which is agape, prefers what God prefers. And what he prefers is all that is morally pure, upright, godly, honest, faithful, decent, and obedient to his commands. So, if we love other people with this kind of love, we are not going to do evil to them, at least not knowingly and not deliberately and habitually. We will not sin against God and our fellow humans with full knowledge and purpose to cause them harm and ill will. But we will do for them what is for their good, but good in the eyes of God, not in the flesh.
“For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” (2 Peter 1:9-11 NASB’95)
So, what is this teaching us? How we live matters for eternity. If we live for God, we walk in his ways, we obey his commands, and we die with him to sin, not just once, but daily, in practice, we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. Nonetheless, if we go our own way, doing our own thing, living in sin and for self, disobeying our Lord and his New Covenant commands, deliberately and habitually, then we will die in our sins, and we will not have eternal life with God in heaven. Read the Scriptures.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
In Harmony
An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17
Love each other truly.
Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil.
Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor.
Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction;
Praying faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.
Share with all God’s people
Who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion
In humility.
Keep your tongue from evil.
Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.
God sees who are righteous;
Listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil –
Is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear.
Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord.
Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.
Moral Excellence and Self-Control
An Original Work / March 12, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
The subject matter is our faith in Jesus Christ and what that should look like, in practice, according to the Scriptures, and according to the examples and the teachings of Jesus Christ and of the Lord’s New Testament apostles. And this has to do with the righteousness of God, godliness, and becoming partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. In other words, it has to do with us, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, dying to sin and obeying our Lord, by his grace, in his power.
Now, as part of our faith in action, in practice, by the grace of God, we should be putting on the character of our Lord in how we think, speak, and behave. As we grow to maturity in our walks of faith in the Lord Jesus, we should be becoming more and more like him in thought, word, and deed. And this is not of our own flesh, because the flesh cannot produce the character of God in us. This is of the Spirit of God as daily we yield control of our lives over to the Lord and we choose to walk in his ways and in his truth.
So, what are some of these character traits which should now be evident in our lives? The first one listed is moral excellence. And that is HUGE! For this is not something that is being taught much or stressed much in modern day “Christianity.” In fact, what I am seeing is the opposite of that. I am seeing all kinds of work-arounds in order to avoid the Scriptures that teach that moral impurity, sexual immorality, the lusts of the flesh, and adultery must be put out of our lives, and they should have no part in the Christian life.
Knowledge is important, for without knowledge we lack understanding, but the knowledge must come from the Lord and from His Word, and not from the flesh of humans nor from humanistic philosophy. So make certain that the knowledge that you are gaining is godly in nature, that it is taken from the Scriptures (taught in their appropriate context), and that it agrees with the divine character of God and with his expressed will and purpose for our lives, as his followers. For there is a lot of knowledge out there that’s bad.
Now each of these qualities builds one upon the other. And all of these qualities must be grounded in the truth of God’s Word. For, if we are lacking in moral excellence, we will also be lacking in self-control, but along with moral excellence will come self-control. And we learn self-control through the knowledge of God’s word and via the Spirit living within us, by faith in Christ. And we learn self-control when we yield control of our lives over to the Lord and we choose to do his will and to not give into our flesh, by the Spirit.
And perseverance is critical to our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and to our salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. For the Scriptures teach that, by faith, we die with Christ to sin, and we walk in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit. But if sin is what we practice, and not obedience, and not righteous and godly living, then we won’t inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. We must obey our Lord and die to our sins, in practice, from now to eternity, by God’s grace.
And godliness is following the example of Jesus Christ and how he lived, and it is walking by the Spirit, and not by the flesh, in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. And to be holy is to be separate (different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, if we are willing and obedient, and if we will submit to his work of grace in our lives, and if we cooperate with him as clay in the hands of the Potter being shaped and molded into the image of Jesus Christ.
And kindness never lies to people. You may call it kindness, but it is not kind to tell people lies, even if those lies make them feel good. If we are truly kind, as Jesus was kind, we will speak the truth in love to people, for their good, for their welfare, for what is truly best for them, especially in light of eternity. So we will not dilute and alter the gospel message to make it more acceptable to human flesh, and we will not shy away from sharing the truth of the gospel out of concern of hurting other people’s feelings.
For love, which is agape, prefers what God prefers. And what he prefers is all that is morally pure, upright, godly, honest, faithful, decent, and obedient to his commands. So, if we love other people with this kind of love, we are not going to do evil to them, at least not knowingly and not deliberately and habitually. We will not sin against God and our fellow humans with full knowledge and purpose to cause them harm and ill will. But we will do for them what is for their good, but good in the eyes of God, not in the flesh.
“For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.” (2 Peter 1:9-11 NASB’95)
So, what is this teaching us? How we live matters for eternity. If we live for God, we walk in his ways, we obey his commands, and we die with him to sin, not just once, but daily, in practice, we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. Nonetheless, if we go our own way, doing our own thing, living in sin and for self, disobeying our Lord and his New Covenant commands, deliberately and habitually, then we will die in our sins, and we will not have eternal life with God in heaven. Read the Scriptures.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
In Harmony
An Original Work / September 2, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17
Love each other truly.
Cling to what is good.
Hate all that is evil.
Never lack in zeal.
Serve the Lord with fervor.
Joyful in hope be;
Patient in affliction;
Praying faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.
Share with all God’s people
Who are found in need.
Do not be conceited.
Sympathetic be.
Love, and show compassion
In humility.
Keep your tongue from evil.
Peaceful you must be.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.
God sees who are righteous;
Listens to their prayers.
But He’s against evil –
Is His to avenge.
Do not fear what they fear.
Suffer patiently.
In your hearts, make Christ Lord.
Serve Him faithfully.
Honor one another.
Live in harmony.
Moral Excellence and Self-Control
An Original Work / March 12, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
